Signal box



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R. W. CARNAHAN SIGNAL BOX Filed Nov. 20. 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Mar. 12, 1929.

UNITE STATS;

RALPH W. CARNAHAN, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE PARAMIOUNT FIRE ALARM ENGINEERING COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO,

A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

SIGNAL BOX.

Application filed November 20, 1922.

This invention relates to signal boxes, such as are used for fire alarms or the like, for transmitting electric signals by intermittent ly making and breaking an electric circuit at predetermined intervals.

The objects of the invention are to provide a signal box of this character in which the signal transmitting mechanism is operated by means of a weight connected to a chain of gearing which operates the make and break device, the weight being arranged to be raised to put the gearing into operation, when it is desired to turn in an alarm.

A further object of the improvement is the provision of means for giving tour complete transmissions of the signal or box number with one complete operation of the mechanism, an operating lever being provided for raising the weight. the device being so con structed that a slight movement of the operating lever will give at least one complete transmiss on of the box number; means being also provided for permitting free movement of the lever, after the same has been operated to start the mechanism, without interference with the operation of the signal mechanism.

A still further object is to provide a make and break device operated by the signal wheel, the contacts being arranged to operate to make and break the circuit within mercury cups, the movable contact points being immersed in the mercury when the circuit is closed, preventing corrosion of the contact points; the movable contacts being provided with open tips to prevent the forming of an are when they are raised out of the mercury to break the circuit.

Another object of the invention is to provide a locking means tor retaining the usual glass panel in position in the door of the sign nal box and arranged to permit the glass to be easily and readily replaced. after the box has been operated.

Other objects ot the invention are to pro vide signal boxes of the character mentioned in which complicated adjustments are eliminated, thus doing away with causes of failure to operate and to register accurately and permitting of their being manufactured economically, thus )roviding a signal box which is eificient and durable in operation and construction.

Serial No. 602,113.

The above and other objects may be attained by constructing the signal box in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of a signal box embodying the invention, showing the door thereof opened;

Fig. 2, a plan view of the signal transmitting mechanism removed from the box;

Fig. 3, a section on the line 83, 2; Fig. 4, a section on the line l-4, Fig. 2; Fig. 5, a section on the line 5-5, Fig. 2;

Fig. (i. an enlarged elevation of the signal transmitting mechanism showing the make and break device in section;

Fig. 7, a section on the line 77, Fig. 6;

Fig. 8, an elevation of the yoke which carries the movable contacts in the make and break device;

Fig. 9, an enlarged elevation of one of the movable contact points;

Fig. 10, a section on the line 10-10, Fig. 1;

Fig. 11, a section on the line 11-1 1, 10:

Fig. 12, a section on the line 1212, Fig. 10; and

Fig. 13, a detached elevation of the sliding rack bar which engages the train of gearing.

Similar nui'nerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings' The signal mecl'ianism is contained within the usual box 1, provided with the hinged door 2 having the compartment 3 formed therein and provided with the opening 4- through which the handle portion or" the operating lever 5 extends, a glass panel 6 covering the compartment. thereby making it necessary to break the glass in order to have access to the operating lever, as the door is normally held in the closed position by means of the lock 7.

A pair of notched lugs 8 (see Figs. 10 and 11) are provided upon the outer face of the door near opposite lower corners of the compartment 3 and are arranged to receive the lower edge of the glass panel 6, the opper edge of said panel being received in the groove 9 tormed in the rib 10.

For the purpose of locking the glass panel in place over the compartment 3, a pair of rotatable bolts 11 are journaled in the door and in the bearing block 12, and provided with the notched ends 13 extending into the 2 mesons groove 9. it rocker arm ii is fixed upon or In replacing the glass panel in the door, the bolts 11 are rotated by means of the link 15, until the cut-out portion 13 of each bolt moved into position to permit the glass pant] to be moved upward out of engagement with the notched lugs 8, when the lower end of the panel may be pulled outward and the broken panel removed.

Leaving the bolts in this position, the upper end of a new panel may be inserted into the groove 9, the panel being ra sed until the lower end is passed over the lugs l and may be dropped into the notches thereo't. The bolts 11 are then rocked back into the position l; st shown in Fig 12, preventing" the panel from being moved upward and locking the same securely in place.

As the bolts 11 are located upon the inner side of the door and the cut-out ends thereof are protected by the rib 10, it will be seen that after the glass panel is placed in position, and the door closed and locked, the panel cannot be removed from the outside of the box, and it is necessary to break the glass in order to have access to the handle 05 the operating lever A signal transmitting mechanism is mounteo upon a frame comprising the front and rear plates 17 and 18 respectively, connected together at their corners as by the posts 19 and supported upon the rear wall of the be as by the brackets 20.

The operating lever 5 (sec 6 and 7) is pivoted at 21 between a pair of bracket plates mounted upon the front plate 1?, and extends through a slot 23 in said trout plate, lining provided at its rear end with the gear segment 24 which meshes with the sliding rack bar 25 slidably mounted in the guide-ways 2G. and provided with a pawl pivoted intermediate its extremities as at 2th and arranged to he normally held in the position shown in Fig. 7. by means of the pin 29 extending through the gruide ways and enr tying the lower end of the pawl to throw the some into this position.

i\ rarl; bar 230 (see also Fig mounted parallel to and in rear of the her being mounted for vertical i'wiprocalhin r: the guide-ways ill, a roller 33; engaging! the upper end of said rack bar. A substantially triangular paw 3;} is pivoted at its upper end as at 3% in a slot formed in the racl; bar 30, the flat face 36 thereof being arranged to be engaged by the fiat end 3? of the pawl 27.

A spring 38 engages the upper end portion of the pawl 83 and is arranged to throw said pawl rearward into the groove 39, when the pawl is disengaged from too pawl 2?, the

Ii is sliil'il cant s are it) at the lower end t'thc groove being arranged to normally move the pawl 33? into the position shown in Fig 7, when the parts are in the initial position.

The rack bar 30 meshes with a gear wheel lined upon a shaft- 42 which is journalcd throu l'i the plates 17 and 18, the segment (see Figs. 3, 3, 4 and 6) being also fixed upon il shaft and provided with the peripheral T, (c 44-, a steel ribbon to being connected at the upper end of said groove and snpport ing at its lower end the weight 45, which slidahly mounted upon the vertical guide rods 4-6, carried in the upper and lower brackets 47 and 48 respectively, which are mounted upon the rear face of the box.

Studs 49 and. 50 (see Fig. t) limit the upper and lower movement of the segment 43. hen the segment is in the normal position,

as best shown in Figs. 1 and (i, the weight 4-5 Wlll be spaced slightly above the lower bracket 48, thus suspending the weight from the sector at all times.

A ratchet wheel 51 (see Fig. 5) is placed upon the shat't 42 and the gear wiicel 52 is journaled upon said shaft adjacent to the ratchet wheel, and provided with a pawl nm'mally held in mesh with the ratchet teeth by means of the spring 54. The gear 5'? meshes with a pinion 55 fixed upon the shaft as. A gear 5? is fixed upon the sh aft 56, and meshes with the pinion 58 fixed upon the shaft 55), a gear mounted upon said shaft meshing with a pinion 61 upon the shaft 62 A gear 63 is fixed upon the shaft (32 and meshes with a pinion 6 upon the shaft (35, an escape wheel [56 being also fixed upon said shaft and engaged by the palette (37 which is pivoted as at The palette acting upon the escape wheel, thus provides for a uniform operation 0t the gearing when the same operated by the downward movement of the weisirht.

The shaft 59 extends through the front plate 1'2" and the signal wheel 69 is lived upon the outer end thereof, the circunil crential surface of said signal wheel being provided with groups of projecting teeth TO arranged in an; desired combination to produce the formation of the signal impulses, these teeth being: preferably of the shape best shown in Fin. hzwiugg' a rear vertical edge and a. dowwsardlv and forwardly lilt'lltlttl toiwvaril ed The lever T1 is; pivoted at 72 upon the trout face of the front plate 17. and is prov ded with the depending tooth 72 which normally rests upon the periphery of the signal wheel 69, and is arranged to be engaged by the groups of teeth upon the signal wheel to intermi tently raise and lower the lever at predetermined times, as will be later described.

For the purpose of insulating the mecha iisln from the malt, and break ivvitt whi h lot) is operated through the lever 71, a knob 73 of hard rubber or the like is mounted upon the free end of the lever which conta ts with the vertical rod 74 of the yoke 75, which carries the movable contacts 76 of the make and break device.

The rod 74 is slidably mounted through a suitable vertical bearing in the insulated housing 77 within which the make and break device is contained, and the arms 78 of the yoke slide within vertical passages in said housing, the movable contacts 76 upon said arms being located in the chambers 79 formed in said l'iousing, cups 80 being threaded into the lower ends of said chambersand provided with the fixed contact points 81, to which the wires 82 are connected, said wires leading to suitable binding posts 853 to which wires Sl are attached, said last named wires leading to the fire station or other point where the signal is to be given, it being, of course, understood that a suitabl. source of electrical energy is located in the circuit.

Each of the cups 80 contains mercury and the movable contact members 76 are provided with the opcntips 85 preferably formed of thin strips of suitable conducting material bent into the form shown in the drawings, and connected at their extremities to the cylindrical portions 76 of the movable contact members, thus leaving the central openings 86 through the tips through which the mercury may flow when the movable contact members are in the normal position, as illustrated in Fig. 6.

\Vith this construction of make and break device, when the yoke is raised to move the movable contact points out of engagement with the contact points 81, a small portion of the mercury will be lifted by the open tips upon the movable contact members, preventing an arc from being formed between the contact members.

The lower end of the ra k bar 30 is pro vided with the shoulder 87, terminating in the downwardly tapered portion 88, and this shoulder is arrange: to engage the tail portion 89 of the lever 90 when the parts reach the lowermost or normal position. The lever 90 is pivoted near the tail portion as at 91 and provided at olh l wi? 11 the hooked portion 3:2 arranged to A, vcd nto the path (ill, aiwavs ot' the stop pin 5);") upon it stopping the iechanism in the same pm-siiion in c":

as shown in Fig. i). A pair of stop pins 94 mounted upon the front plate above and below the lever 90, limit the movement of said lever.

Attention is called to the free end portion 95 of the lever 71 which is provided 'ith the finger button 96, providing a key by means of which the lever may he manually operited. This construction is especially desirable for signalling from a box which has been operated on account of fire in that particular fire district, as the fire chief may manually operate the finger key to transmit any desired code signal to fire headquarters, during the progress of the fire, as'for instance, it may be necessary to signal to fire headquarters to send other fire companies to the scene of the confiagration or with the use of this key, inforn'iation regarding the progress of the tire or that the the has been extinguished may be easily transmitted to headquarters, as any predetermined code of signals may be provided for transmitting such messages.

In operating the mechanism, it is first necessary to break the glass panel 6 in order that the handle of the operating lever 5 may be grasped. The operating lever is then pulled downward to the full extent of its movement and released. This movement of the operating lever through the gear segment 24 thereon, raises the rack bar 25, the pawl 27 thereof engaging the fiat surface of the pawl 33 upon the rack bar 30, moving the rack bar 80 upward and rotating the gear 41' in a direction to move the segment 43, which is also fixed upon the shaft 42, upward, raising the weight 45 upon the guides 46.

As the shaft 4:2 is thus rotated in this direction, four of the teeth upon the ratchet 51, will in succession, click under the spring pressed pawl 53, upon the gear 52 which, being loosely mounted upon the shaft 42, is held against rotation with the shaft by engagement with the pinion 56.

As the operating lever reaches the limit of its downward movement, the pawl 33 will be engaged by the stop pin 99, throwing said pawl out of engagement with the pawl 27 and into the groove 39, the spring 38 holding the pawl 33 in this position.

The mechanism will immediately start to operate by the downward movement of the weight 45, which through the segment 43 and shaft 42. will move the ratchet 51 and through. the pawl upon the gear 52, the chain of gearing above described will be operated to rotate the signal wheel 69 in the direction of the arrow shown on Figs. 1 and 6.

Any further movement of the operating lever in either direction, will not affect the operation of the mechanism, as the rack bar 25, being disconnected from the rack bar 80, may be freely reciprocated without interfer ence with the downward movement of the rack bar 30. lVith a complete downward movement of the operating lever, as above described, the pawl 53 will click over four of the teeth upon the ratchet 51 and four complete revolutions of the signal Wheel 69 will be made before the mechanism is brought to a stop.

Should the operator of the device become excited, and only give the operating lever a partial movement, the pawl 53 will be caused to click over one, two or three of the ratchet teeth 51, thus producing one, two or three 4 messes complete revolutions of the signal Wheel and t'ansn'iitting the same number of signals to the tire station or other point where the recording mechanism is located.

As the signal Wheel is thus rotated, the groups of teeth thereon engaging the tooth. 42 upon the lever '41, will raise and lower said lever interinittently, in turn raising}: and ering the yoke carrying the movable t'entaet points, thus making and breaking the eirt at predetermined intervals and produeing' proper impu es at the lire elation.

As the last reve ion of the signal Wheel rack har will have reached its lowermost ms, ion, the shoulder 87 thereof engaging tl v tail $9 of the lever 90. throwing the hook portion 9; Paid lever upward into the path of the stop pin 9 upon the gear (i While at the same time the segment 4-3 will engag ihe slop pin 30, prev siting: further downward inoa'einent o weight and always stopping the gear at; the proper position, the signal wheel (39 heinig hionght to a slop in the position shown in l ig s. l and 6.

As the l'ltth' bar 30 descends daring-3 i transmission of a signal, the inner em of t pawl moves over the cam snrlaee 1.0

the

lower end of the groove 39, moving: the mat face 36 of the paivl on ward that it gaged by the tint upper en d 3] of the p as shown in Fig. 7, thereby resetting he mechanism for further operation.

I cla 1. A signal tra isinitter inelnd' b wheel, a make and break device operated the ehv, a chain of gears operativel eon-- nee d to the signal vheel, a pivoted spjinezit, a Weight suspended from the segment, a 5 carried by the segment, a rack oar operatively engaging the gear, a second racl; her, paxvls upon the rack liars ar tinged to normallx lo the bars together, an operaling: lever having i signal transmitter including; a sim wheel, a make and break devy therein: :1 chain oi' gears operative .3' iii to the signal Wheel, a pivoted se weight suspended in in the seginenh a gear earried h the segment, a rack har operatively engaging the gear, seeond rael; bar, means arranged to normally look the bars together, an operating lever having a gearing portion engaging the second rack he i and men 5; actuated hv the npxard movement of the rack hers For disengaging said locking means when the segment is raised to its highest, point.

:3. A al ransniitter inelnding a signal whee a make and break device operated therehv. a ehain of gears operatively eonneeted to the-shoal Wheel, a pivot d segment, means e-rinz'ieeted to the segment for storing up energy to transmit a signal, a gear carried f e segment, a "ael: i331 operativel ening the g 2.1? a second rack bar, pawls n the rael: bars arranged to i'iorinally loel; he hers together, an operating lev r having i gearing portion engaging the second reel:

' and means actuated hy the upward nioven-ent of the rack bars for dieengagring said \vhr-n the segment is ra sed to its high a" point.

l. A signal transmitter including a signa heel a maize and break device operate ili l'-Jl) a ehain of gears operatively connected to the a -nal Wheel, a pivoted segn'ient, ineans (onnteied to the segment for storing up energy to transmit a signal, a gear earried h the segment, a rack bar operative v engine; the gearing, a seeond rack har, "ang ed to normally lOizi the bars an operating lever having a gean '(in engaging: the second rack 1 ar and tnzited by the upward movement of hars for disengaging said locking e lli th segment raised to its high ial trainniitti int-hiding? signal elm-l, a make 2nd hreal device operated a-1th a chain of gears operativelv e n- -!-d i-z; ihe signal Wheel, a pi oted s gment,

i ided from the segment, an oplever and winding: means associated elii xiii-ills. 

